Overton Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Overton Cemetery, out there in Dallas County. Now, every good story has a beginning, and this one starts before the cemetery, before the house, before the family name was even attached to the land. It starts with a man named Dugold MacFarland, and a survey.

Survey No. 985, to be exact, measuring out twelve hundred and eighty acres. MacFarland had earned that land the hard way, receiving it as bounty from the Republic of Texas for his service in the War with Mexico. But MacFarland didn't hold onto it long.

He assigned his patent to a man named John Nolen, a land manager. And then the land moved again, deeded over to Aaron Overton in 1851, this time in payment of back taxes. Now, that's the legal pedigree of the land.

But the human story starts a little earlier. Aaron Overton was a North Carolina native, born in 1784, and he came to this part of Texas in 1844 along with his sons, Caswell C. and William Perry. They were among the first to settle on the west side of the Trinity River.

Aaron built the first home out there, and it was one of the first frame houses in the county. In time, it became one of the oldest houses in the county, full stop. Pioneers knew that homestead well, not just as a landmark, but for what it offered: a grist mill, and Overton hospitality.

William Perry Overton, born in 1823, built his own home on that same land between 1853 and 1854, and it's near that site where the cemetery stands today. The family put down roots in the ground in more ways than one. The first person buried in the Overton Cemetery was Lizzie E.

Overton, daughter of William Perry and his wife Martha. Lizzie passed in 1870. After her came others, most of them family.

William Perry's son Caswell followed in 1873. His son Oscar Alonzo in 1880. Aaron Overton himself had died back in 1860.

Then there's Henry C. Davis, who died in 1889. He was the father of Jessie Davis Price, William Perry's second wife.

Henry C. Davis was buried here after being struck by a train on the nearby railroad tracks. The marker states that plainly, and it deserves to be said plainly.

But the cemetery holds more than just the Overton bloodline. There are graves belonging to people who lived on the land, and friends. Dr.

Kiaza Tsukahara, born in 1873 and died in 1928, known by the name Dr. Jap, is buried in the front corner of the fenced portion of the cemetery. Ollie Leatherwood, born in 1894 and died in 1979, who had moved into the Overton house itself, is there too.

And then there's what the marker calls a saying, not a certainty, but a saying. It is said that three Confederate veterans, men who were being cared for in the Overtons' house, are buried to the left of the gate. Their graves are unmarked.

A fenced piece of ground near the Trinity River, holding the named and the unnamed, the family and the friends, the ones history recorded and the ones it almost forgot. That's the Overton Cemetery.

What the marker says

THE OVERTON CEMETERY IS LOCATED NEAR THE SITE OF WILLIAM PERRY OVERTON'S HOME, BUILT IN 1853-54, ON LAND ORIGINALLY A PORTION OF THE DUGOLD MACFARLAND SURVEY NO. 985 OF 1280 ACRES. MACFARLAND RECEIVED THE BOUNTY LAND FROM THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS FOR HIS PARTICIPATION IN THE WAR WITH MEXICO AND THEN ASSIGNED HIS PATENT TO JOHN NOLEN, A LAND MANAGER. THE LAND WAS THEN DEEDED TO AARON OVERTON IN 1851 FOR THE PAYMENT OF BACK TAXES. NORTH CAROLINA NATIVE AARON OVERTON (1784-1860) AND HIS SONS, CASWELL C. (1816-?) AND WILLIAM PERRY (1823-1903), WERE AMONG THE FIRST TO COME TO THE AREA, SETTLING ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE TRINITY RIVER IN 1844. THE FIRST HOME, ERECTED BY AARON, WAS ONE OF THE FIRST FRAME HOUSES, AND NOW ONE OF THE OLDEST HOUSES, IN THE COUNTY. THE HOMESTEAD WAS WELL KNOWN IN ITS TIME BY PIONEERS FOR THE OVERTONS" GRIST MILL AND HOSPITALITY. THE FIRST FAMILY MEMBER BURIED IN THE CEMETERY WAS LIZZIE E. OVERTON (d. 1870), DAUGHTER OF WILLIAM PERRY AND WIFE MARTHA. MOST OF THE GRAVE MARKERS INSIDE THE FENCED AREA ARE FOR OVERTON FAMILY MEMBERS, INCLUDING WILLIAM PERRY'S SONS CASWELL (d. 1873) AND OSCAR ALONZO (d. 1880). HENRY C. DAVIS (d. 1889), FATHER OF WILLIAM PERRY'S SECOND WIFE, JESSIE DAVIS PRICE, WAS ALSO BURIED HERE AFTER BEING STRUCK BY A TRAIN ON THE NEARBY RAILROAD TRACKS. OTHER GRAVES BELONG TO THOSE WHO LIVED ON THEIR LAND AND FRIENDS SUCH AS DR. KIAZA TSUKAHARA (1873-1928), KNOWN AS "DR. JAP," WHO IS BURIED IN THE FRONT CORNER OF THE FENCED PORTION OF THE CEMETERY, AND OLLIE LEATHERWOOD (1894-1979), WHO MOVED INTO THE OVERTON HOUSE. IT IS ALSO SAID THAT THERE ARE THREE CONFEDERATE VETERANS WHO WERE BEING CARED FOR IN THE OVERTONS" HOUSE BURIED TO THE LEFT OF THE GATE IN UNMARKED GRAVES.